---
title: "Translate plain text files"
description: "Translate .txt files up to 4 MB with paragraphs, blank lines and line endings kept. Good for transcripts, notes and exports. Example instructions included."
canonical: "https://ai-glot.com/docs/formats/plain-text"
updated: "2026-10-12"
---

# Translate plain text files

Plain text files (`.txt`) are accepted up to **4 MB**. AI Glot reads a text file as paragraphs separated by blank lines and translates each one in the context of its neighbours. Line breaks, blank lines, line endings and a byte-order mark come back as they were.

> **Tip: Try it free**
>
> Drop a file of up to 2 MB on the free [text translator](https://ai-glot.com/file-formats/txt-translation) to try it with no account, five files a day. The app, the API and the CLI take text files up to 4 MB.

## What is translated, and what is left alone

| Translated                                                       | Left as it was                                        |
| ---------------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------- |
| Every paragraph, including line breaks inside it                 | Blank lines and paragraph breaks                      |
| Very long paragraphs, cut at sentence boundaries and joined back | Windows or Unix line endings, and the byte-order mark |
| Anything in scope                                                | Anything you scope out, byte for byte                 |

The file is read and written as UTF-8, so accents, Cyrillic, Arabic and Asian scripts come back correctly.

## What you can ask

**A transcript**

Translates every paragraph in a natural, spoken tone.

Translate this interview transcript into French in a natural, spoken tone. Keep the line breaks.

**Keep the line breaks**

Makes sure the shape of the text is preserved.

Translate into German. Keep every line break and blank line exactly where it is.

**A script or lyrics**

Respects verse structure and sets the tone.

Translate into Spanish. Keep the line structure of each verse and use a natural, spoken tone.

**Skip a header block**

Leaves boilerplate in the source language.

Translate into Italian, but leave the licence header at the top of the file in English.

**Notes with technical terms**

Protects commands and file names.

Translate these release notes into Portuguese. Leave command names, file names and version numbers unchanged.

## Good to know

- **One target language per upload.** A file holds one language. If you ask for two, the plan translates one and says so. Run the file once per language: your [glossary](/docs/platform/glossaries) carries over.
- **No markers inside a paragraph.** Plain text has no structure to lock, so the plan works paragraph by paragraph and cannot protect a speaker name or a timestamp inside one. Skim the result for those.
- **Paragraphs end at a blank line.** Line breaks inside a paragraph are kept and translated as part of it.
- **Ceiling.** 4 MB. Output filter: not available, the whole file comes back.
- **A log or an export** with a fixed structure is better translated in a format that knows its structure, such as [CSV](/docs/formats/csv) or [JSON](/docs/formats/json).

## Related

- [Markdown](/docs/formats/markdown), [HTML](/docs/formats/html) and [subtitles](/docs/formats/subtitles) for text with more structure.
- [All file formats](/docs/formats)